OUR FIGHT AGAINST INSECTS 197 



efforts are being made to find something more effective, 

 or cheaper or simpler. 



In addition to the large projects mentioned in pre- 

 ceding paragraphs, many striking things have been ac- 

 complished. The pear thrips, which at one time threat- 

 ened the extinction of the fruit industry on the Pacific 

 coast, is no longer feared; two serious pests of the clover 

 seed crop can now be handled by slight variations in 

 the cropping methods; sprays and spraying machinery 

 have been developed which can be used successfully 

 against practically all leaf-feeding species; the fumiga- 

 tion of nursery stock and of warehouses has been per- 

 fected; such injurious species as the onion thrips, the 

 grape-berry moth, the alfalfa weevil, the tobacco horn 

 worm, and many others of recent prominence can now 

 be controlled. 



The two outstanding problems at present before the 

 country are the control of the European corn-borer, 

 which at present exists in portions of New England, 

 New York, and Ohio, and of the Japanese beetle which 

 is at present confined to an area in New Jersey and 

 Pennsylvania. Both of these insects bid fair to extend 

 their range greatly and to damage the corn crop and, 

 in the case of the Japanese beetle, to damage the or- 

 chards to an extent which cannot be predicted but 

 which promises enormous loss. Pending the develop- 

 ment of more satisfactory means of control, efforts are 

 being made to prevent these insects from rapid spread. 



The fight calls for many more trained entomologists 

 and the expenditure of much larger sums than are at 

 present available. 



